This invention relates to food serving devices, in general, and, more particularly, to a chafers or chafing dishes for holding foods and having a pivotable cover which can be readily pivoted into a multiplicity of positions and which remains stable in the position selected.
Chafing dishes or chafers of the prior art are provided for holding and heating a food to be served from a serving pan. The heating is accomplished by means of at least one portable burner, typically located below the dish or pan holding the food. The portable burner permits the chafing dish to be placed in the dining room to serve food directly from the pan while it is continuously being heated. The food service pan is typically supported by a support frame. In some applications the support frame may include a water pan for receipt of the food service pan to prevent the food from being burned. In other applications no water pan may be used.
Most chafers also include a cover or lid which is arranged to be disposed over the food service pan to keep the food hot and to prevent it from drying out or otherwise degrading. The cover or lid may be mounted so that it can be totally removed from the chafer to provide access to the food service pan to enable the food to be taken from the pan. Alternatively, the cover may be pivotably mounted to the support structure of the chafer so that it can be pivoted open to provide access to the food in the food service pan. Pivotably mounted covers are typically arranged so that they can be lifted up by a handle on the front of the cover to pivot the cover backward to expose the food service pan. The center of gravity of the cover is usually located so that when the cover is lifted beyond a certain point, e.g., the xe2x80x9cbalance point,xe2x80x9d the weight of the cover automatically pulls the cover downward and under the food service pan so as to be out of the way of the pan to enable food to be served therefrom.
Some pivoting cover chafers commonly utilize some type of friction device, e.g., disks with springs, or mechanical stops to prevent the cover from rotating into a xe2x80x9cfree fallxe2x80x9d state once the center of gravity of the cover passes the balance point. Moreover, some prior art chafers include a plunger type stop to allow the cover to hold at a 90 degree partially open position. In such an arrangement the plunger must be pulled to release the cover in order to rotate it to its fully open position. The fully open position is typically less than 180 degrees, e.g., is approximately 160 degrees. This action requires one hand to hold the cover and the other hand to release the plunger. As will be appreciated, such action may be difficult to perform by the user since one hand of the user may be holding a plate to fill or a pan to replenish the food in the chafer.
The patent literature includes various patents directed to chafing dishes with pivotable covers. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,196 (Forman) which discloses a support stand with a dome-shaped cover for containing and housing a pan for holding water and/or food above a burner assembly. The stand includes an upper support ring which has an inner and outer ring and a channel integrally formed therebetween for receiving and supporting the dome-shaped cover when the cover is opened or closed over the chafing dish. The support ring is formed from a single piece of metal and includes a C-shaped aperture approximately 50% around the diameter of the ring to permit the rim of the dome-shaped cover to pass freely therethrough and engage a stop which can be pivoted out of the way so that the cover can be partially or fully opened. Other U.S. Pat. Nos. are: 4,320,849 (Yellin), 5,597,500 (Hasenfratz et al.), D365,724 (Yu), D369,506 (Tinius), and D369,507 (Tinius).
While the above described prior art chafers may be generally suitable for their purposes, a need still exists for a chafer which can exhibit the following features: (1) the ability to serve food from either side of the chaferxe2x80x94accomplished by the chafer""s cover being able to open to a fully open (e.g., 160 degree) position, (2) the ability to provide one handed operationxe2x80x94only a single hand of a customer or server is necessary to pivot the cover to any of its desired positions, (3) the ability to readily remove the cover for cleaning, (4) the ability of the cover to assume a multiplicity of stable positions, e.g., fully closed, partially open and fully open, (5) simplicity of construction and (6) an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
A chafer comprising a support frame, a food service pan, a cover, and a cover pivoting assembly. The cover has a peripheral edge. The support frame is arranged for releasably supporting the pan therein and for mounting the cover over the support frame to enable the cover to be pivoted about a horizontal axis from a fully closed position to an intermediate partially closed position and to a fully open position, and vice versa. The cover pivoting assembly is arranged to enable the cover to be automatically held stable in the fully closed, partially open or fully open positions by the mere movement of the cover to any of those positions.
In accordance with one exemplary preferred aspect of this invention the chafer includes a damper assembly coupled to the cover pivoting assembly for damping the movement of the cover into the partially open and fully open positions and for producing a frictional force to hold the cover in the selected position.
In accordance with another exemplary preferred aspect of this invention the chafer includes a cover mounting assembly for releasably mounting the cover onto the support frame and for preventing it from being removed when it is in any position other than the fully closed position.